Becoming a Man

<p><strong>The National Book Award winning memoir with a new foreword by Kathryn Harrison author of The Kiss.</strong></p><p><strong>Fiercely committed to bequeathing a map of his psychic terrain to spare others the pain of his solitary journey [Monette's] fine memoir is affirmative and ultimately celebratory. -- <em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong></p> <p>A child of the 1950s from a small New England town perfect Paul earns straight A's and scholarships and shines in social and literary pursuits all the while keeping a secret--from himself and the rest of the world. Struggling to be or at least to imitate a straight man through Ivy League halls of privilege and bohemian travels abroad loveless intimacy and unrequited passion Paul Monette was haunted and finally saved by a dream--The thing I'd never even seen: two men in love and laughing. This searingly honest witty and humane merging of memoir and manifesto has become the definitive coming out story--and a classic of the coming-of-age genre. It was awarded the 1992 National Book Award for nonfiction. </p>